Authorities: Texas blast probe may be done May 10

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press

Posted:
05/01/2013 08:44:30 AM MDT

Updated:
05/01/2013 01:31:49 PM MDT

AUSTIN, Texas—The investigation of a deadly explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant will likely finish within the next two weeks, state authorities told lawmakers Wednesday, but they also warned that the cause of the catastrophic blast might never be known.

"As you can imagine, with this explosion site and the complexities there, that's a possibility," Texas State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said.

Connealy has targeted May 10 as when his office will complete the investigation into the origin and cause of the West Fertilizer Co. explosion, which killed 14 people and injured 200 others. Most of the dead were firefighters and paramedics who were trying to put out a blaze at the plant and steer evacuations when the building erupted in a giant fireball.

Investigators have closely guarded their findings so far and have offered no hint at a possible cause.

Connealy announced the soft deadline—the first time investigators have set a timetable since the April 17 blast—while testifying during a packed special legislative hearing in the Capitol.

Missing from the crowded room appeared to be anyone from tiny and rural West. The state House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee only allowed testimony from leaders of state agencies, including health officials who identified more than 40 other fertilizer blending facilities similar in size and purpose to the one in West.

Lawmakers suggested that the West tragedy should motivate the state to ask local fire department to revisit to those plants and look for hazards.

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"If you're asking me, I can go back and do that again and say, 'Hey fire chiefs, you might want to go back and look at your facilities again,'" said Nim Kidd, who heads up the state's emergency management division

Two months before the explosion, the West plant reported the capacity to store as much as 270 tons of ammonium nitrate, though how much was actually on site when the blast occurred is unknown.

How closely Texas regulates dangerous chemicals has come under renewed scrutiny since the blast. Gov. Rick Perry has said that more state inspections would not have prevented the explosion, and suggested that Texas residents are comfortable with regulations in the state based on how they vote. State environmental regulators last inspected the plant in 2006, while the state chemist office made more regular visits.

On Wednesday, the chairman of the House panel set immediate ground rules that the next two hours were not for finger-pointing or interrogations.

"This is a learning process for the community at large. And ultimately this is going to be a national issue as well," Democratic Rep. Joe Pickett said.

Connealy said investigators are combing through a 14.9-acre area and compared the work to an archaeological dig. He said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has so far spent $500,000 on the investigation and expects that price tag to double.

"We literally have to sift through all the soil—all the items that exploded out of the plant, collect those, try to reconstruct the facility," Connealy said. "We are well down that path. But (May 10) is an approximate date. Don't hold us to that."

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told lawmakers there are more than 1,100 facilities statewide that store ammonium nitrate. He also reiterated to lawmakers there is no information suggesting that criminal or terrorist activity is behind the explosion.

But Kelly Kistner, the assistant state fire marshal, said investigators have not shut those possibilities.

"A criminal act has not been eliminated," he said.

The explosion has spawned at least six lawsuits, including one from the family of a volunteer firefighter killed in the blast. Also suing are two insurance companies, a nursing home resident and a West couple.